Smoking is a practice in which a combustible substance, e.g., tobacco, cannabis, or herbs, is burned and the resulting smoke inhaled. Combustion of the substance causes the release of active drugs such as nicotine or THC and makes them available for a smoker to absorb through the lungs. The most common way of smoking today is through cigarettes, primarily industrially manufactured but also hand-rolled using rolling paper. Other smoking tools include traditional pipes, cigars, hookahs and water-pipes, or bongs.
People smoke for recreation, as a part of rituals, in search of a spiritual enlightenment, and for medical purposes. The history of smoking can be dated to as early as 5000 BC, and has been recorded in many different cultures around the world. Early smoking evolved in association with religious ceremonies, as offerings to deities, in cleansing rituals, or as a process of divination. The practice of smoking has become commonplace.
It will be appreciated that, while cannabis for recreational use is illegal in many parts of the world, its use as a medicine is legal in a number of territories, including Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Italy, Finland, and Portugal. In the United States, permission for medical cannabis varies from state to state, several having enacted laws to allow regulated cannabis consumption, possession, cultivation, and distribution for medicinal use.
Though smoking is commonplace and enjoyable, inhalation of smoke may adversely affect the health of a smoker. Carcinogens in tobacco or cannabis smoke may increase a smoker's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, cancer, and other diseases. Many industrially manufactured cigarettes employ a filter to reduce the amount of nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tar, smoke, and particulate matter that a smoker inhales when a cigarette is burned. Industrially manufactured filters may comprise various materials and may have a predetermined length, such as approximately thirty percent of a cigarette's length. However, cigarette filters do not limit the protect non-smokers or others who are located near a smoker.
As a result, smoking may adversely affect the health of non-smokers, including a smoker's non-smoking friends and family members. When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke, it is commonly referred to as passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in secondhand smoke take in the nicotine, THC, tar, smoke, particulate matter, and/or other chemicals just like smokers do. Passive smoking has played a central role in the debate over the harms and regulation of tobacco products. Since the early 1970s, the tobacco industry has been concerned about passive smoking as a serious threat to its business interests. Passive smoking was perceived as motivation for stricter regulation of tobacco products as well as for smoking bans in workplaces and indoor public establishments, such as restaurants, bars, and nightclubs.
Even those who are not located near a smoker may still suffer from the adverse effects of smoking later on. Smoking releases odors that get into hair, clothing, and other surfaces, even after the smoke is no longer visible. Some researchers call this remnant odor “thirdhand” smoke. Essentially, the particles caused by smoking settle on surfaces and can be measured long after a person has finished smoking.
What is desired are mechanisms for preserving the commonplace and enjoyable experience of smoking, while reducing or eliminating the adverse effects of secondhand and thirdhand smoke.